242 million-year-old reptile prints discovered in south-east France [View all]
The prints are estimated to date to ‘before the dinosaurs’ and were analysed using cutting-edge 3D scanning technology
By Hannah Thompson
Traces of footprints dating from ‘before the dinosaurs’ and estimated to be 242 million years old have been found in south-east France.
A hiker first discovered the reptile prints in a rock in Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée (Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) in September 2020. Scientists analysed the prints to determine their origin.
Palaeontologists from the Lazaret laboratory identified them as prints belonging to a Chirotherium barthii, a type of reptile that measured three to four metres, and which lived in the arid and hostile land of Alpes-Maritimes more than 200 million years ago.
Emmanuel Desclaux, archaeologist from the Lazaret lab, told France 3: “We could observe that it was almost on the point of becoming bipedal [walking on two legs] because the footprints are much deeper at the back.”
More:
https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/242-million-year-old-reptile-prints-discovered-in-south-east-France
Chirotherium barthii
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